October 13, 2013
Monte Gordo
Riding the Ecovia through Ria Formosa Natural Park
Today's ride was a total surprise. For some reason I hadn't expected the route east along the coast to Monte Gordo to be anywhere nearly as enjoyable as it was. In fact it was terrific and continuously interesting.
Most of the ride was on the Ecovia, which was every bit as challenging to navigate as yesterday's stretch - it could be helped considerably by more consistent and prominent signing. The route though was exceptional, traversing a landscape of estuary and salt flats that were rich with bird life and strikingly colorful. The first half of the day passed through Ria Formosa Natural Park, which might have tipped me off that we were in for something special had I not overlooked it in planning the trip somehow. Our day was filled with frequent sightings of egrets, herons, stilts, flamingos, gulls, and a variety of other shorebirds unfamiliar to me. We have also been very surprised at how much is still in bloom this time of year - the roadsides are often bordered by a wide variety of beautiful flowering shrubs and vines.
We made a leisurely day of it, arriving at our hotel a bit after five and racking up an unimpressive 9 mph average - the consequence of frequent stops to look around and a day spent mostly on dirt and crushed gravel. The weather was again ideal today, warming to the low seventies - and the forecast for the next week is for more of the same. We seem to be here at the perfect cycling season.
Elevation log: 1200' today, 2900' total.
Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 89 miles (143 km)
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